Ateliers #19

"We paint what seems to rise, then fall: The light, which streams, untouchable."

Drawing inspiration from Sol LeWitt’s observation that “the most interesting characteristic of the cube is that it is relatively uninteresting,” Ateliers transforms the mundane cube into a dynamic expression of the creative process. By breaking the cube into its subsidiary partitions, the algorithm generates a malleable space where boundaries are removed and the artist is free to explore without constraint. Through the play of planes and edges, Ateliers tells a story of artistic evolution and the endless pursuit of new possibilities.

The algorithm builds upon a process I’ve used for many years, where I generate an underpainting and then give the computer freedom to sift through the pixel array and select elements to surface for the final image. The challenge, though, is that I end up with a linear array of points that begins at the top of the screen and runs to the bottom. For this series, I wanted to render the work in a more interesting way, and not simply paint lines back and forth down the screen. After numerous experiments, I had the thought to use a nearest-neighbor type of sorting. This allows the paint to follow a more organic path through the pixels, and furthers my goal to incorporate the human hand into my work with the computer.

Made with JavaScript and p5js

Controls

Press [p] to pause/unpause the painting process
Press [spacebar] to save the image
Add “&pd=4” to the URL and reload for a higher resolution file

Ateliers is part of the group exhibition Imperfections.